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The Enemy Within (episode)
A transporter malfunction splits Captain Kirk into two people—one good and one evil, and neither capable of functioning well separately. Summary During a survey of Alfa 177, geological technician Fisher slips down a rock, gashing himself badly and smearing his uniform with a strange magnetic ore. He beams up to the ''Enterprise'' for treatment. Detecting a curious overload in the transporter circuitry, Scotty has Fisher decontaminated before reporting to sickbay, but the problems have already begun; the strange ore has altered the function of the transporter. Next, Captain Kirk beams up from the planet, before the fault is discovered. He apparently materializes normally -- but is in fact, a shadow of himself. In what is probably the most bizarre transporter accident on record, Kirk is split into two beings. The first to materialize embodies all of Kirk's so-called positive qualities. Moments later, after everyone has left, Kirk's evil twin materializes. Some time passes before the mishap is discovered, during which the evil Kirk roams the ship, stealing liquor, assaulting crewmen, and even attempting to rape Yeoman Rand. Finally, he is cornered in the engine room, and captured -- but not before his errant phaser shot damages the transporter further. Kirk's good half considers abandoning his evil half. It is a hateful thing, and he does not like to acknowledge that it is part of him. But as he weakens, and begins to lose the ability to make decisions, he realizes that he needs it, that neither part of him can live without the other. Meanwhile, on the planet below, the remaining landing party is suffering through increasing cold. Attempts to beam heaters and other support devices produce only non-functional duplicates. Finally, Scotty and Spock believe they have isolated and repaired all the damage. A test animal, previously split, is sent through to see if it will reintegrate. It does, but rematerializes dead. Crippled with indecision, Kirk must decide what to do. He is able, barely, to make the trip, and his two halves are re-integrated. Confident once again, he gives the order to beam up the landing party, saving them moments from freezing. Background Information * This was the first episode to show the Vulcan nerve pinch, as well as the first time McCoy says "He's dead, Jim." Legend has it that Leonard Nimoy objected to the script's directive that he konk the evil Kirk on the head, so he improvised the neck pinch on the spot and demonstrated it on William Shatner for director Leo Penn. * Richard Matheson's script is very important to the series, concisely and clearly allowing Spock to explain his mixed heritage and the challenges it causes for him. *For years the first several minutes of this show up to Fisher's fall were printed backwards. This has been corrected on the DVD releases. * Shatner's command insignia is missing from his uniform through the first five minutes of the episode. * Also, Lt. Farrell's insignia is missing from his uniform near the end of this episode, when evil Kirk tells him to abandon Sulu but reappears in five seconds on his chest! Alan Asherman speculated this was due to forgetfulness after cleaning of the early veleur costumes, in which insignia had to be removed and then re-attached afterward. * The showering phaser effect used when Sulu heats the rock is never used again. * Several nice jump cuts were put together to allow the Kirk double to pop into a scene. The scene of the double's bloody hand popping in just after the other Kirk has entered the turbo lift is very nicely done. * Another jump cut allowing two Kirks to appear in the same scene in Engineering was spoiled by interspersing a shot of the double on top of one of the engine components, which rendered the clever edit unnecessary. A similar situation happened in Sickbay. * There are two split screens used as well: after Kirk's double is neck-pinched, and in sickbay, when he takes the hand of his counterpart. * Jim Goodwin refers to George Takei's character as "Mr. Solo." * When Scott reports from Engineering about the destroyed transporter ionizer, new dialogue is dubbed in over the original. Even from behind, it is clear that Doohan is speaking totally different words. This piece of equipment was later recycled as the Janus VI reactor in "The Devil in the Dark". * Although Nichelle Nichols does not appear in this episode, in a nice touch of continuity, her voice is heard on the intercom in several scenes. * In this episode we get to follow Kirk behind the large engine room machinery components in our first trip to the engineering deck (which dialogue identifies as being in the lowest parts of the ship). To allow this to happen, the new set had to be temporarily expanded a bit to hide the soundstage beyond it. After the double is rendered unconscious by the first neck pinch in the series, the quickly-assembled wall behind the three characters can be observed to have a very rough edge where it meets the floor. Pieces of sets that were designed to be added and subtracted easily were called "wild." Although Kirk will pursue Ben Finney into these components in Court Martial, this is the only time we get to see the space behind them. * It's unusual that this engineering room was an ideal place for a fugitive to hide if he wanted to escape search parties, and also in that it seemed like it was normally unmanned with absolutely nobody in it. The idea that the "engineering deck", as it was called, as a place where people normally are not at is re-iterated in the later episode "Conscience of the King" where Lt. Riley is sent "down" all by himself, which he percieves as some kind of punishment or chastisement for something he did wrong. This is quite a contrast with the busy engine room of the later seasons. * The view of the tubed structures behind the grille was a forced perspective set. The tubed machinery appears to be many dozens of meters long, but this is an illusion created by making each vertical piece much smaller than the one in front of it. Diminishing numbers were later printed on the tubes immediately behind the grid to add to the illusion. In episodes where the engines were under stress, lighting effects were used inside the tubed-machinery room. Matt Jeffries' imaginative design made engineering perhaps the most impressive set used for the Enterprise. The set would be extensively remodeled between the first and second seasons. * This is the only episode when you can see the ceiling of the Engineering room, although when the set is redecorated as the Phaser Control Room in Balance of Terror, you can glimpse it then, as well. Also in "Conscience of the King" when the set is re-dressed as the ship's theater you can see the ceiling. * The voice of the security officer on the intercom sounds like James Doohan, sans accent. * During the final confrontation between Kirk and his double on the bridge, the double's cheek scars appear on the wrong side of his face due to reversal of the film. * In a very strange gaffe, when Kirk and Evil Kirk meet for the very first time down in the engineering room, Evil Kirk is seen holding a Phaser-II pistol, and there is a very nice close-up of this. This is the pistol that he confiscated earlier. However, for the full-body shots of the actors, Evil Kirk is seen holding only a Phaser-I, and it is this weapon that he discharges to the side somewhere when Spock nerve pinches him. It is also clearly a Phaser-I when Evil Kirk is lying on the floor unconscious. * When Spock makes the Captain's Log entry in lieu of the captain, he calls himself "second officer Spock". * We get a rare glimpse of the main viewscreen with no picture on it whatsoever. It is just a plain white blank screen with a black frame with no blue glowing strip around it, and you can see it behind Evil Kirk when he is on the bridge. Memorable Quotes * "Any chance of getting us back aboard before the skiing season opens down here?" - Sulu * "And what is it that makes one man an exceptional leader? We see here indications that it is his negative side that makes him strong, that his 'evil' side, if you will, properly controlled and disciplined, is vital to his strength." - Spock * "The...imposter had some.....interesting qualities, wouldn't you say....Yeoman? " - Spock to Rand * "Being split into two halves is no theory with me, doctor. I have a human half, you see, as well as an alien half...submerged, constantly at war with each other. I survive it because my intelligence wins out over both, makes them live together." - Spock * Animal Kirk to Yeoman Rand: "You're too beautiful too ignore...too much a woman." Links and References Main Cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * James Doohan as Scott * George Takei as Sulu * Grace Lee Whitney as Rand Guest Stars * Eddie Paskey as Leslie * Jim Goodwin as John Farrell * Ed Madden as Fisher * Garland Thompson as Wilson * Don Eitner as Kirk's stunt double * Unknown actor as Bobby * Unknown actor as James References Alfa 177; Alfa 177 canine; Ore; Synchronic meter; Saurian brandy; Transporter ionizer unit; Vulcan nerve pinch Enemy Within, The de:Kirk : 2 = ? fr:The Enemy Within nl:The Enemy Within sv:The Enemy Within